An 18-year-old boy has been fatally shot while playing Pokemon Go in the first reported death linked to the augmented reality game.

Jerson Lopez de Leon from Guatemala was shot dead while he was playing Pokemon Go with his cousin Daniel Moises Picen (17) in Guatemala.

It's reported the two teenage boys were ambushed on a street in Chiquimula, 120 miles south east of the capital Guatemala City.

Nearly 20 bullet casings were found at the scene of the murder. Local media reports that Jerson was shot dead while Daniel was wounded.

Jerson Lopez de Leon. Photo: Facebook

Officials confirmed the cousins had been searching for Pokemon when they were attacked.

It still isn't clear why the pair were attacked but it is speculated that the attackers may have found the teenagers using the app itself - which has location features to make it possible to lure people to go to specific areas, or to locate players.

Police are now looking for the occupants of a van that was seen driving from the scene.

Jerson’s mother, Rosalinda, said that the teenager had left the house to go out and play the augmented reality game.

"I don't know why my son left the house,” she said. “He was already in bed when his cousin sent him a message asking him to go out and download a game a few blocks from the house."

This isn't the first time the popular game has caused problems.

Pokemon Go players should keep their road safety in mind warns expert

Two Pokémon Go players were shot at by a homeowner in Florida after being mistaken for burglars.

On Wednesday, coastguards in the UK had to come to the rescue of about 20 teenagers, after they stole a boat to locate Pokemon creatures on New Brighton marine lake.

The Wirral Coastguard Rescue Team issued a warning after the group fled the scene, abandoning the boat to drift into the middle of the marina.

A spokesman said: “Catching Pokemon Go took a not-so-fun turn when the UK Coastguard was called to investigate reports of a group of 20 youths taking a rowing boat without permission, to chase a Pokemon across New Brighton marine lake.”

Danny Jameson, senior coastal operations officer, added: “We know that many people are enjoying Pokemon Go across the UK and we wouldn’t want to spoil that fun.

“However, we would ask people to use a little common sense and not to take risks while looking for Pokemon.